I can really relate to this. I 'climbed the ladder' in company X and thereby acquired a lot of company-specific domain knowledge that didn't really have much value outside the company. I realized what kind of a fix I was in years ago and started to lay some groundwork for moving to another firm, but it took until this year to find a company that would place enough value on my [opaque] work at X to hire me at a salary that was comparable.
Lesson learned : make a conscious and focused effort to acquire + maintain general skills and keep a visible portfolio updated!
Great tip, I feel more and more that my company has ancient tech that they still adhere to (basically as massive VM riddled with third party expensive proprietary software making it impossible to eat our own dog food even) and I now have three choices 1: Learn it and grow in this company but get stuck, 2: Force modern scaleable ways upon them (I've seen people try and fail but I hear more and more employees complain, perhaps I can be the one to lead change) or 3: Leave. I think I'll make this decision within 1 or 2 years (still a lot to learn).
But I feel more and more that growing in this company may be a trap.
I'm in the same boat. Funny how many people here are on the same boat. So many smart people but they feel like they can't prove themselves to land a job at another company. I feel that is one thing that stinks about our industry. I think option 1 and 2 are difficult..it takes a talented leader to pull off, but it may not be appreciated by people who haven't been there.
Meaning, it's easier to create a new project using x,y,z new tech. But to transform a company and bring business value from old tech, is more difficult.
Lesson learned : make a conscious and focused effort to acquire + maintain general skills and keep a visible portfolio updated!